IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ems/eureri/9404.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Unfit to Learn? How Long View Organizations Adapt to Environmental Jolts

Author

Listed:
  • Heugens, P.P.M.A.R.
  • Zyglidopoulos, S.C.

Abstract

Long view organizations have a technical core combining high levels of Woodwardian (1958) technological complexity and Thompsonian (1967) technological intensity. This significantly diminishes their capacity for operational flexibility and strategic adaptation. Little is known about how such organizations manage to learn from rare events. We shed light on this issue by reporting a thirteen-year longitudinal study of a major oil company, tracing its experiences with a socio-political crisis from original preparations to learnings that did not fully materialize until years after the event. We use three alternate templates to interpret the organization’s struggle to maintain its technical core under conditions of fierce contestation by changing constituent groups and dwindling public support: (1) a stakeholder template mapping shifts in the salience of constituent groups that punctuate long-standing negotiated equilibria; (2) a legitimacy template showing migration towards new forms of legitimacy while old forms crumble; and (3) a capability template highlighting how pre-existing stocks of capabilities hinder learning before being supplanted by new ones. These templates are tied together in a set of integrative propositions stating how long view organizations learn from rare events.

Suggested Citation

  • Heugens, P.P.M.A.R. & Zyglidopoulos, S.C., 2007. "Unfit to Learn? How Long View Organizations Adapt to Environmental Jolts," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2007-014-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    • Handle: RePEc:ems:eureri:9404
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://repub.eur.nl/pub/9404/ERS-2007-014-ORG.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrew J. Hoffman & William Ocasio, 2001. "Not All Events Are Attended Equally: Toward a Middle-Range Theory of Industry Attention to External Events," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(4), pages 414-434, August.
    2. Mary Ann Glynn, 2000. "When Cymbals Become Symbols: Conflict Over Organizational Identity Within a Symphony Orchestra," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(3), pages 285-298, June.
    3. David, Paul A., 1994. "Why are institutions the 'carriers of history'?: Path dependence and the evolution of conventions, organizations and institutions," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 205-220, December.
    4. Joseph Lampel & Zur Shapira, 2001. "Judgmental Errors, Interactive Norms, and the Difficulty of Detecting Strategic Surprises," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(5), pages 599-611, October.
    5. Allison, Graham T., 1969. "Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 63(3), pages 689-718, September.
    6. James P. Walsh, 1995. "Managerial and Organizational Cognition: Notes from a Trip Down Memory Lane," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 6(3), pages 280-321, June.
    7. Allison, Graham T., 1969. "Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 63(3), pages 689-718, November.
    8. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    9. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt & Jeffrey A. Martin, 2000. "Dynamic capabilities: what are they?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 1105-1121, October.
    10. Pursey P. M. A. R. Heugens & Cees B. M. Van Riel & Frans A. J. Van Den Bosch, 2004. "Reputation Management Capabilities as Decision Rules," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(8), pages 1349-1377, December.
    11. Joseph Lampel & Jamal Shamsie, 2003. "Capabilities in Motion: New Organizational Forms and the Reshaping of the Hollywood Movie Industry," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(8), pages 2189-2210, December.
    12. Liette Lapointe & Suzanne Rivard, 2007. "A Triple Take on Information System Implementation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(1), pages 89-107, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ilgaz Arikan & Ipek Koparan & Asli M Arikan & Oded Shenkar, 2022. "Dynamic capabilities and internationalization of authentic firms: Role of heritage assets, administrative heritage, and signature processes," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(4), pages 601-635, June.
    2. Jim Andersén, 2023. "Green resource orchestration: A critical appraisal of the use of resource orchestration in environmental management research, and a research agenda for future study," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5506-5520, December.
    3. Patnaik, Swetketu & Munjal, Surender & Varma, Arup & Sinha, Sujay, 2022. "Extending the resource-based view through the lens of the institution-based view: A longitudinal case study of an Indian higher educational institution," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 124-141.
    4. Joern Hoppmann & Alice Sakhel & Marcel Richert, 2018. "With a little help from a stranger: The impact of external change agents on corporate sustainability investments," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(7), pages 1052-1066, November.
    5. Richard Arend, 2013. "Ethics-focused dynamic capabilities: a small business perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 1-24, June.
    6. João José M. Ferreira & Cristina I. Fernandes & Vanessa Ratten, 2016. "A co-citation bibliometric analysis of strategic management research," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 109(1), pages 1-32, October.
    7. Loock, Moritz & Hinnen, Gieri, 2015. "Heuristics in organizations: A review and a research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(9), pages 2027-2036.
    8. Sabina Tasheva & Bo Bernhard Nielsen, 0. "The role of global dynamic managerial capability in the pursuit of international strategy and superior performance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 0, pages 1-20.
    9. Filipe M. Santos & Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, 2005. "Organizational Boundaries and Theories of Organization," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(5), pages 491-508, October.
    10. Pursey Heugens & Nikolay Dentchev, 2007. "Taming Trojan Horses: Identifying and Mitigating Corporate Social Responsibility Risks," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 75(2), pages 151-170, October.
    11. Richard Arend, 2014. "Entrepreneurship and dynamic capabilities: how firm age and size affect the ‘capability enhancement–SME performance’ relationship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 33-57, January.
    12. Roy Suddaby & Trevor Israelsen & Francois Bastien & Rohny Saylors & Diego Coraiola, 2023. "Rhetorical History as Institutional Work," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 242-278, January.
    13. Eriksson, Taina, 2014. "Processes, antecedents and outcomes of dynamic capabilities," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 65-82.
    14. Jutta Wollersheim & Koen H. Heimeriks, 2016. "Dynamic Capabilities and Their Characteristic Qualities: Insights from a Lab Experiment," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(2), pages 233-248, April.
    15. Shaker A. Zahra & Congcong Zheng & Jifeng Yu, 2018. "Learning advantages of newness: A reconceptualization and contingent framework," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 12-37, March.
    16. Fainshmidt, Stav & Nair, Anil & Mallon, Mark R., 2017. "MNE performance during a crisis: An evolutionary perspective on the role of dynamic managerial capabilities and industry context," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 1088-1099.
    17. Afris Widya-Hasuti & Abbas Mardani & Dalia Streimikiene & Ali Sharifara & Fausto Cavallaro, 2018. "The Role of Process Innovation between Firm-Specific Capabilities and Sustainable Innovation in SMEs: Empirical Evidence from Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-26, June.
    18. Yolande E. Chan & James S. Denford & Junjun Jane Wang, 2019. "The Co-Evolution of IT, Knowledge, and Agility in Micro and Small Enterprises," Journal of Information & Knowledge Management (JIKM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 18(03), pages 1-34, September.
    19. Sabina Tasheva & Bo Bernhard Nielsen, 2022. "The role of global dynamic managerial capability in the pursuit of international strategy and superior performance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(4), pages 689-708, June.
    20. Giovanni Gavetti & Anoop Menon, 2016. "Evolution Cum Agency: Toward a Model of Strategic Foresight," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 1(3), pages 207-233, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Alternate templates; Environmental jolts; Institutional theory; Oil industry; Organizational learning; Resource-based view; Stakeholder theory;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • M - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ems:eureri:9404. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: RePub (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/erimanl.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.